Today, it’s the Bread Winner and my anniversary. Our wedding anniversary that is. We celebrate both our wedding anniversary and our original anniversary. Because we can and because it seems kind of strange to discount the years we were shacked up before we decided to go all traditional.

Anyway, organising a baby sitter and a night out seemed all a bit too hard for a Monday so I decided to create a feast at home. Including breaking out one of the good bottles of wine I bought long before we had children…before we married if it comes to that.

The Wine – The Yarra Hill 1998 Shiraz

French Onion Soup
The Bread Winner’s all time favourite. Made better than ever by cooking the onions in the slow cooker. A tip I picked up from a comment at A Year of Crock Potting
6 large brown onions, thinly sliced
large dob butter
olive oil
2 tablespoons rapadura
1/4 cup flour
500ml vegetable stock
500ml beef stock
French stick
1/3 cup grated parmesan
1/3 cup grated gruyere
1 garlic clove
Place butter in slow cooker. Place onions on top. Drizzle some olive oil over onions. Scatter rapadura over top. Cook on low for 6 – 8 hours until onions are a rich golden brown.
Sprinkle flour over onions and stir to thoroughly combine.
Combine stocks together and bring to boil (5 minutes 3 secs on varoma temperature, soft speed if using thermomix). Add to onions, stir. Turn slow cooker up to high for 2 minutes. Reduce to low until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, place soup in oven proof serving bowls. Top with slices of french stick that have been rubbed with peeled garlic clove. Combine cheeses and place on top of bread. Place under grill until cheese melts and bubbles. Serve immediately.

Eye Fillet Filo Parcels
served with steamed snow peas
This is a dish I devised many years ago but haven’t made for ages. I would ordinarily serve this on a bed of mashed potato but given we’re having three courses tonight I figured we had enough food.
2 eye fillet steaks
handful baby spinach
7 mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 large shallot, finely diced
large dob butter
4 sheets filo pastry
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup onion soup broth or beef stock
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
splash good red wine
Melt butter in small saucepan. Brush onto 1/2 of one sheet of filo. Fold unbuttered half onto buttered half. Butter and place half the second sheet on top. Butter half and fold so you have a smaller triangle, 4 layers thick. Do it again with the other two sheets so you have the outside of two parcels ready.
Divide the shallots into 2 and place in the middle of each filo rectangle. Top that with the spinach, then the mushroom. Steak goes on top of that. Fold edges of filo up and around to enclose the filling. Brush with remaining butter all over outside.
Preheat oven to 19 degrees. Bake for about 25 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.
To make gravy:
Place flour and water in unwashed saucepan that has the butter in it. Whisk until combined. Add stock, soy and wine. Whisk over heat until slightly thickened.
To serve, place parcel in middle of plate and drizzle gravy around the edges. Serve greens as a side dish.

Chocolate Egg Tarts
This is an adaptation of the Portuguese Egg Tart recipe on Rasa Malaysia. This made 8 tarts. Which was naughty because I only needed 2.
wonton wrappers
spray on olive oil
80g fair trade dark chocolate
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup of pure double cream
1/3 cup of milk
3 drops of vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Spray olive oil onto one side of wonton wrappers and press oiled side down into a muffin pan to create cases.
Melt chocolate in double boiler on stove top or for 2 minutes at 50 degrees, speed 3 in thermomix. Place chocolate and all other ingredients in thermomix or food processor and blend until combined (10 seconds speed 4 in thermomix).
Spoon chocolate into wonton cases and bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until pastry is golden.
Allow to cool and serve.